Non-contact gesture controllable robot

ABSTRACT

A robot includes a moving mechanism, a sensor device and a control device. The sensor device senses a gesture of a user hand in a sensing zone thereof. The control device causes the moving mechanism to perform an action instruction that corresponds to the gesture when the gesture matches a piece of gesture data in a gesture database thereof.

FIELD

The disclosure relates to a robot, and more particularly to anon-contact gesture controllable robot.

BACKGROUND

Conventionally, a robotic arm is required to be programmed with amachining process for performing desired treatments on an article.

However, when the machining process is under optimization for, as anexample, determining a final appearance of the article, the continuousupdates of the machining process may be time consuming. Accordingly,techniques that may enable instant adjustments of the robotic arm'sactions according to the user's demand is required.

Chinese Patent No. CN103921265A discloses a conventional robot operableto move by user operation of a handheld remote controller.

SUMMARY

Therefore, an object of the disclosure is to provide a robot that canalleviate at least one of the drawbacks of the prior art.

According to the disclosure, the robot includes a base, a movingmechanism, a sensor device and a control device. The moving mechanismincludes a driver module mounted to the base, and a driven member thatis configured to be driven by the driver module to move in one of afirst direction, a second direction and a third direction. The first,second and third directions are perpendicular to each other. The sensordevice is mounted to the driven member, and faces toward a sensing zonethereof for sensing, in a non-contact manner, a gesture performed by auser hand in the sensing zone. The sensing zone is separate from thesensor device by a minimum sensing distance in the third direction. Thecontrol device is electrically coupled to the driver module and thesensor device, has a gesture database, and an action instructiondatabase corresponding to the gesture database, and is configured to,when the gesture that is performed by the user hand in the sensing zoneand that is sensed by the sensor device matches a piece of gesture dataincluded in the gesture database, cause the driver module to execute anaction instruction that is included in the action instruction databaseand that corresponds to the piece of gesture data.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other features and advantages of the disclosure will become apparent inthe following detailed description of the embodiments with reference tothe accompanying drawings, of which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating an embodiment of the robotaccording to the disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating use of the embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a partially exploded perspective view illustrating theembodiment;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view illustrating a sensor device and a lightemitting device of the embodiment;

FIG. 6 is another schematic diagram illustrating use of the embodiment;and

FIGS. 7-11 are schematic diagrams illustrating image data stored in agesture database of the embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Before the disclosure is described in greater detail, it should be notedthat where considered appropriate, reference numerals or terminalportions of reference numerals have been repeated among the figures toindicate corresponding or analogous elements, which may optionally havesimilar characteristics.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3, the embodiment of the non-contact gesturecontrollable robot includes a base 2, a moving mechanism 3, a sensordevice 4, a light emitting device 5, a control device 6 and an endeffector 7.

The moving mechanism 3 includes a driver module 31 mounted to the base2, and a driven member that is configured to be driven by the drivermodule 31 to move in one of a first direction (X), a second direction(Y) and a third direction (Z). In this embodiment, the driven member isa flange 32, but this disclosure is not limited thereto. The first,second and third directions (X, Y, Z) are perpendicular to each other.In this embodiment, the moving mechanism 3 is a six-axis robotic arm,and the driver module 31 includes a plurality of motors operable todrive joints of the moving mechanism 3. However, the moving mechanism 3may be other types of robotic arm, such as a parallel robotic arm, etc.,and this disclosure is not limited thereto.

Referring to FIGS. 3 to 5, the sensor device 4 is mounted to the flange32, and faces a sensing zone 41 thereof (defined by a range of thesensor device 4) for sensing, in a non-contact manner, a gestureperformed by a user hand 9 in the sensing zone 41. The sensor device 4includes an infrared sensor module 42 that is configured to sensewhether or not the user hand 9 is in the sensing zone 41, a cameramodule 43 that is configured to capture images in a direction toward thesensing zone 41, an adaption board 44 on which the light emitting device5 and the end effector 7 are mounted, and a bracket 45 to which theinfrared sensor module 42 and the camera module 43 are mounted. In thisembodiment, the camera module 43 uses one set of lenses to captureimages, but may use multiple sets of lenses to capture three-dimensionalimages in other embodiments.

Referring to FIGS. 3, 4 and 6, the sensing zone 41 is separate from thesensor device 4 by a minimum sensing distance (D1) along an axis (L)parallel to the third direction (Z), and ranges between the minimumsensing distance (D1) and a maximum sensing distance (D2) from thesensor device 4 in the third direction (Z). In this embodiment, theminimum sensing distance (D1) is ten centimeters, and the maximumsensing distance (D2) is twenty centimeters.

Referring to FIGS. 3 to 5, the adaption board 44 has an installationsurface 441 to which the flange 32 is mounted, a working surface 442which is opposite to the installation surface 441 and to which the endeffector 7 is mounted, and a surrounding surface 443 which interconnectsthe installation surface 441 and the working surface 442 and to whichthe bracket 45 is mounted. The adaption board 44 has screw holes 445 forthreadedly engaged with the flange 32, and screwholes 446 for threadedlyengaged with the end effector 7. In this embodiment, the installationsurface 441 and the working surface 442 are parallel to each other, andare perpendicular to the third direction (Z).

The light emitting device 5 is mounted to the adaption board 44, iselectrically coupled to the control device 6, and includes a pluralityof light emitting diodes 51 mounted to the surrounding surface 443. Thelight emitting device 5 is configured to emit light in different manners(e.g., having different colors) corresponding to different states inwhich the robot operates.

Referring to FIGS. 2, 3 and 5, the control device 6 is electricallycoupled to the driver module 31, the sensor device 4 and the lightemitting device 5, and has a gesture database 61, and an actioninstruction database 62 corresponding to the gesture database 61. Whenthe gesture that is performed by the user hand 9 in the sensing zone 41and that is sensed by the sensor device 4 matches a gesture included inthe gesture database 61, which may for example be determined accordingto comparison by the control device 6, the control device 6 causes thedriver module 31 to execute an action instruction that is included inthe action instruction database 62 and that corresponds to the matchedgesture included in the gesture database 61.

The gesture database 61 includes following gesture data 610, a firstinching gesture data 611, a second inching gesture data 612 and a thirdinching gesture data 613. In this embodiment, the gesture data 610-613are image data of hand actions.

The action instruction database 62 includes a following actioninstruction 620, a first inching action instruction 621, a secondinching action instruction 622 and a third inching action instruction623 that respectively correspond to the following gesture data 610, thefirst inching gesture data 611, the second inching gesture data 612 andthe third inching gesture data 613. The following action instruction 620is configured to cause the driver module 31 to drive the flange 32 tofollow movement of the user hand 9; the first inching action instruction621 is configured to cause the driver module 31 to drive inching of theflange 32 in the first direction (X); the second inching actioninstruction 622 is configured to cause the driver module 31 to driveinching of the flange 32 in the second direction (Y); and the thirdinching action instruction 623 is configured to cause the driver module31 to drive inching of the flange 32 in the third direction (Z).

The end effector 7 is mounted to the working surface 442 of the adaptionboard 44, and is controllable by the control device 6 to act. In thisembodiment, the end effector 7 is a clamp claw that is operable to openor close, that is threaded to the adaption board 44, and that may beused to clamp a to-be-processed article (not shown), a processing tool(not shown), etc. In the same or other embodiments, the end effector 7may be a sucker or an ejection mechanism. It should be noted that thedirections (X, Y, Z) may be a user-defined coordinate system that issuitable for the end effector 7.

Referring to FIGS. 2, 3 and 6, in use, the sensor device 4 continuouslyperforms detection within the sensing zone 41. When a gesture that isperformed by the user hand 9 in the sensing zone 41 and that is sensedby the sensor device 4 matches the following gesture data 610, thecontrol device 6 executes the following action instruction 620 to causethe driver module 31 to drive the flange 32 to follow movement of theuser hand 9; when the gesture that is performed by the user hand 9 inthe sensing zone 41 and that is sensed by the sensor device 4 matchesthe first inching gesture data 611, the control device 6 executes thefirst inching action instruction 621 to cause the driver module 31 todrive movement of the flange 32 by a first inching distance in the firstdirection (X); when the gesture that is performed by the user hand 9 inthe sensing zone 41 and that is sensed by the sensor device 4 matchesthe second inching gesture data 612, the control device 6 executes thesecond inching action instruction 622 to cause the driver module 31 todrive movement of the flange 32 by a second inching distance in thesecond direction (Y); and when the gesture that is performed by the userhand 9 in the sensing zone 41 and that is sensed by the sensor device 4matches the third inching gesture data 613, the control device 6executes the third inching action instruction 623 to cause the drivermodule 31 to drive movement of the flange 32 by a third inching distancein the third direction (Z). In this embodiment, each of the first,second, and third inching distances is adjustable between one millimeterand ten millimeters.

For example, the following gesture data 610 and the first to thirdinching gesture data 611-613 may correspond to image data as shown inFIGS. 7 to 11. When the infrared sensor module 42 senses that the userhand 9 is in the sensing zone 41, the camera module 43 captures imagesof the user hand 9 that is in the sensing zone 41. Upon the controlmodule 6 determining that the images of the user hand 9 match a piece ofthe gesture data, the control module 6 causes the driver module 31 toexecute the corresponding action instruction.

When the following action instruction 620 is executed, the controldevice 6 causes the driver module 31 to, according to the direction andthe distance that the user hand 9 subsequently moves in the sensing zone41, bring the flange 32, along with the adaption board 44 and the endeffector 7, into movement in the same direction and by the samedistance. Since a remote controller is not required to control operationof the robot, the adverse effects caused by static electricity resultingfrom contact between the human body and the remote controller may beprevented. In this embodiment, the control device 6 is configured tocause the driver module 31 to initiate operation only after the userhand 9 moves by a distance greater than a predetermined distance (e.g.,5 centimeters) and maintains at a last position for a predetermined timeinterval (e.g., one second), so as to prevent a wrong move resultingfrom unintentional swaying of the user hand 9.

When one of the first, second and third inching action instructions621-623 is executed, the control device 6 causes the driver module 31to, according to different subsequent actions of the user hand 9 in thesensing zone 41, drive the flange 32, along with the adaption board 44and the end effector 7, to inch in a corresponding manner. For instance,two fingers that open (e.g., FIG. 9) or two fingers that are puttogether (e.g., FIG. 10) may be an inching action instruction, thattogether with one of the first, second and third inching actioninstructions 621-623, causes the flange 32, along with the adaptionboard 44 and the end effector 7, to move forward or backward in thecorresponding direction. Since using of the fingers is more expedientthan using a remote controller, processing efficiency may thus bepromoted.

Referring to FIGS. 2, 3 and 5, in this embodiment, the light emittingdiodes 51 are controlled by the control device 6 to emit light indifferent manners corresponding to different states in which the robotoperates. For example, when the robot is in a state of normallystopping, the control device 6 controls the light emitting diodes 51 toemit steady green light; when the robot is in a state of normallymoving, the control device 6 controls the light emitting diodes 51 toemit flashing green light; when the robot is in a state of error, thecontrol device 6 controls the light emitting diodes 51 to emit flashingred light and causes the driver module 31 to stop operation; when therobot is in a state of executing the following action instruction 621and recording the subsequent movement of the user hand 9 (i.e., thedirection and distance that the user hand 9 moves) in the sensing zone41, the control device 6 controls the light emitting diodes 51 to emitflashing blue light; and when the robot is in a state of executing thefollowing action instruction 621 and moving according to the recordedmovement, the control device 6 controls the light emitting diodes 51 toemit steady blue light. Thus, the user may easily be made aware of theoperation state of the robot according to the light emission style andcolor of the light emitting diodes 51.

It should be noted that, in addition to using a fixed hand gesture tocontrol the movement of the robot as described in the embodiment, atransition from a specific hand gesture to another specific hand gesturemay also be used for controlling the movement of the robot.

In the embodiment, the robot is allowed to move only when the user hand9 is in the sensing zone 41, thereby ensuring safety of use. By virtueof non-contact control of the robot to cause the end effector 7 to moveor open/close through use of the sensor device 4, electrostaticinterference from a handheld remote controller may be prevented, so thisdisclosure may be applicable in environments where dusts and staticelectricity are strictly controlled. In addition, since the workingsurface 442 of the adaption board 44 is perpendicular to the thirddirection (Z), movement of the end effector 7 is in the same directionin which the user hand 9 moves, enabling straightforward control by theuser and resulting in convenience in use.

To conclude, via the configuration of the driver module 31, the sensordevice 4 and the control device 6, the driver module 31 may execute theinstructions corresponding to the gestures of the user hand 9, therebyachieving non-contact control of the robot.

In the description above, for the purposes of explanation, numerousspecific details have been set forth in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding of the embodiment(s). It will be apparent, however, to oneskilled in the art, that one or more other embodiments may be practicedwithout some of these specific details. It should also be appreciatedthat reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment,” “anembodiment,” an embodiment with an indication of an ordinal number andso forth means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristicmay be included in the practice of the disclosure. It should be furtherappreciated that in the description, various features are sometimesgrouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereoffor the purpose of streamlining the disclosure and aiding in theunderstanding of various inventive aspects.

While the disclosure has been described in connection with what is (are)considered the exemplary embodiment(s), it is understood that thisdisclosure is not limited to the disclosed embodiment(s) but is intendedto cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope ofthe broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modificationsand equivalent arrangements.

What is claimed is:
 1. A robot comprising: a base; a moving mechanismthat includes a driver module mounted to said base, and a driven memberthat is configured to be driven by said driver module to move in one ofa first direction, a second direction and a third direction, the first,second and third directions being perpendicular to each other; a sensordevice mounted to said driven member, and facing a sensing zone thereoffor sensing, in a non-contact manner, a gesture performed by a user handin the sensing zone, the sensing zone being separate from said sensordevice by a minimum sensing distance in the third direction; and acontrol device electrically coupled to said driver module and saidsensor device, having a gesture database and an action instructiondatabase corresponding to said gesture database, and configured to, whenthe gesture that is performed by the user hand in the sensing zone andthat is sensed by said sensor device matches a piece of gesture dataincluded in said gesture database, cause said driver module to executean action instruction that is included in said action instructiondatabase and that corresponds to the piece of gesture data.
 2. The robotof claim 1, wherein said gesture database includes following gesturedata, and said action instruction database includes a following actioninstruction that corresponds to said following gesture data and thatcauses said driver module to drive said driven member to follow movementof the user hand; and wherein said control device is further configuredto, when the gesture that is performed by the user hand in the sensingzone and that is sensed by said sensor device matches said followinggesture data, execute said following action instruction to cause saiddriver module to drive said driven member to follow movement of the userhand.
 3. The robot of claim 1, wherein said gesture database includesfirst inching gesture data, second inching gesture data and thirdinching gesture data, and said action instruction database includes: afirst inching action instruction that corresponds to said first inchinggesture data and that causes said driver module to drive inching of saiddriven member in the first direction; a second inching actioninstruction that corresponds to said second inching gesture data andthat causes said driver module to drive inching of said driven member inthe second direction; and a third inching action instruction thatcorresponds to said third inching gesture data and that causes saiddriver module to drive inching of said driven member in the thirddirection; wherein said control device is further configured to, whenthe gesture that is performed by the user hand in the sensing zone andthat is sensed by said sensor device matches said first inching gesturedata, execute said first inching action instruction to cause said drivermodule to drive movement of said driven member by a first inchingdistance in the first direction; wherein said control device is furtherconfigured to, when the gesture that is performed by the user hand inthe sensing zone and that is sensed by said sensor device matches saidsecond inching gesture data, execute said second inching actioninstruction to cause said driver module to drive movement of said drivenmember by a second inching distance in the second direction; and whereinsaid control device is further configured to, when the gesture that isperformed by the user hand in the sensing zone and that is sensed bysaid sensor device matches said third inching gesture data, execute saidthird inching action instruction to cause said driver module to drivemovement of said driven member by a third inching distance in the thirddirection.
 4. The robot of claim 3, wherein each of the first, second,and third inching distances is adjustable between one millimeter and tenmillimeters.
 5. The robot of claim 1, wherein the sensing zone rangesbetween the minimum sensing distance and a maximum sensing distance fromsaid sensor device in the third direction, the minimum sensing distanceis ten centimeters, and the maximum sensing distance is twentycentimeters.
 6. The robot of claim 1, wherein said sensor deviceincludes an infrared sensor module that is configured to sense whetheror not the user hand is in the sensing zone, and a camera module that isconfigured to capture images in a direction toward the sensing zone. 7.The robot of claim 6, further comprising: a light emitting device thatis electrically coupled to said control device, and that is configuredto emit light in different manners corresponding to different states inwhich said robot operates; and an end effector controllable by saidcontrol device to act; wherein said sensor device further includes anadaption board on which said light emitting device and said end effectorare disposed, and a bracket connected to said adaption board formounting said infrared sensor module and said camera module thereto; andwherein said adaption board has an installation surface to which saiddriven member is mounted, and a working surface which is opposite tosaid installation surface and to which said end effector is mounted. 8.The robot of claim 7, wherein the third direction is perpendicular tosaid working surface.
 9. The robot of claim 7, wherein said adaptionboard further includes a surrounding surface which interconnects saidinstallation surface and said working surface, and said light emittingdevice includes a plurality of light emitting diodes mounted to saidsurrounding surface.
 10. The robot of claim 7, wherein the differentmanners in which said light emitting device is configured to emit lightdiffer from each other in terms of at least one of color of light oremission style.